Book Buddies
Book Buddies is BUPA's national reading partners' volunteering scheme, which aims to increase the reading age of primary school children. The scheme, Community Connections' first employee volunteering scheme, was set up in 2002 in London and has since expanded to other key BUPA sites such as Staines, Salford Quays, Brighton and Leeds.
How does it work?
Each BUPA Book Buddy volunteer spends an hour per week or fortnight in a local primary school to help children with their reading through a structured reading session. As well as trying to improve the reading age of the child, the scheme also works to develop a love of reading, increase their confidence and self-esteem, and leave them with a real sense of achievement.
Our success stories
Since BUPA began the Book Buddies volunteering scheme, the reading age of the majority of children at St Joseph's Primary School in London has improved by almost two years within six months. Schools are starting to see the same results in other locations as well. One student at Magna Carta School in Staines increased her reading age by two years in two terms. These improvements were reported by the head teachers at the schools following reading tests with a sample of children from each class.
The Book Buddies volunteering scheme has been so successful at BUPA that Community Connections expanded it to include head teacher mentoring (Leaders in Partnership), student mentoring and Maths Buddies.
I get so much out of volunteering for the Book Buddies programme. It gives you real satisfaction to see how well the children are progressing with their reading